


AM 1610 (2008)

by JennyB



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Comfort, Community: 30kisses, Gen, Protectiveness, Relationship Advice, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-02
Updated: 2008-09-02
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7093813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakkai calls a radio call-in show, looking for some advice, and gets some he can really take to heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	AM 1610 (2008)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the LJ community 30kisses, prompt#17 - 'kHz'

_1610 AM. Thursday night, 9-12. Miko-Miko. Trust me, 'Kai – you'll see. ~G._

Sanzo snorted to himself as he pulled the small radio towards him and dialled to the specified frequency. He couldn't believe he was actually bothering with something so stupid based solely on the cryptic words scrawled on the back of a take-out menu. And granted, in most circumstances, he probably wouldn't give a damn one way or the other about the inane bullshit his ikkou got up to. But in this case – hell, this time, two things bothered him and compelled him to care. The first was that it involved Hakkai. Lately, he had started to notice that anything concerning the green-eyed healer was cause for his stomach to flip – sometimes pleasantly, if the brunet was doing something for him, sometimes not if something was causing the youkai distress. Because of that, the second, and infinitely more irksome, was that it involved _Gojyo_ giving Hakkai advice. The blond would reluctantly admit that the hanyou was a solid fighter, and on more than one occasion, had been a worthwhile asset – but when it came to offering counsel, he believed the kappa to be about as effective as broken condom.

For three weeks now, he'd been sequestering himself in his room at whatever Podunk hotel they were staying at and tuning in to the _Love Bites_ show, a radio call-in program dedicated to providing advice to people about relationships, dating, and social interaction in general. Miko-Miko, the host, was overly perky and condescending (and in Sanzo's opinion, completely inept). Upon hearing people's problems, she would offer her own advice on the matter, sprinkling in calls from other listeners and discussing their points of view – often much to the humiliation of the poor person with the issue. As the now-familiar, and infinitely annoying, theme music began, Sanzo scowled and once again wondered just what the hell could be bothering Hakkai enough to make him even entertain going through with something so idiotic. _'And here I'd always thought he was the intelligent one,'_ he thought to himself as he reached for his ashtray and lit up a cigarette. 

Exhaling slowly, he wondered if maybe he'd missed Hakkai's call and had been wasting his time for the past few weeks. After all, he'd found the note quite by accident – he'd asked Goku for a piece of paper to use as a bookmark, and the saru had grabbed the sheet from where it had been tucked inside the cover of Hakkai's journal. However, as he thought back on it, he could remember the restaurant the menu had come from, and he was almost positive that they'd ordered from there just before he'd started listening to the radio program. No, he suspected that Hakkai was biding his time, working up his nerve, and presumably, waiting until Gojyo had either forgotten, or was otherwise occupied so he wouldn't have to risk being overheard by his friend. At least, that's what the blond would do – that is, if he were to participate in something so asinine.

The show began in the usual fashion. Miko-Miko opened with her falsely sympathetic greeting to her listeners, professing that she held the key to understanding, and promising help to the lovelorn. Sanzo couldn't help the disgusted snort as he listened to her prattle on, and less than a minute into it, he was at the cooler and retrieving a six-pack for himself. He figured if he was going to rot his brain for the next three hours, he might as well get _some_ enjoyment out of it. Cracking open the first, he sighed. _'Bring it on, Miko-Miko'_.

By quarter to twelve, Sanzo was working on his last beer, and had smoked nearly an entire pack of cigarettes. Miko-Miko announced that she'd take her last caller, and the priest reached for the knob, not wanting to hear another word. However, when he heard the soft voice of the caller say hello, his hand froze, and he felt his stomach flip. Unpleasantly.

"Well hello, Sweetie," the woman simpered ingratiatingly. "And what can Miko-Miko do for you tonight?"

The near-baby talk voice made Sanzo want to reach into the radio and strangle her with her own microphone wire, but he held his contempt at bay for a moment so that he could focus on what the other was saying.

Hakkai cleared his throat. "Um...I suppose that I'm, well, feeling disjointed from everything. I have some very dear friends, but I don't feel connected to them. Like, if we weren't working together, we'd drift apart. I just feel...alone."

The host let out a soft tinkle of laughter, and in an effort to sound sympathetic, she remarked, "Oh, _Darling_ , it sounds to me like you just need a bit of giddayup in your get along." When there was only silence from the other end, she pressed, "I'm talking _dating_ , Loverboy. You've got a nice voice. What do you look like?"

"Tall, I guess...with dark hair and green eyes."

Miko-Miko chuckled. "You don't do this often, do you?" she teased. "How tall? And are you a chubby teddy bear? A musclehead? Scrawny?"

"I'm just shy of six-foot. And slender. But I don't see –"

"Mm, you sound like a bit of a looker," she interrupted. "Alright, Babe, all you need to do is doll yourself up. Dress smartly and head down to a nice bar in your area. Find someone who strikes your fancy and invite them out. Be spontaneous. Girls like that."

"But that's not – I don't want to date a stranger. It's not practical for me, anyway. I move around a lot."

"So? I'm not saying you've got to _marry_ the girl. There's nothing wrong with a bit of 'temporary companionship' to restore your confidence, if you know what I mean."

"I...No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called. I don't think you understood my question, and I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Hang on a second, Stud, I'm getting there. It sounds like you're the shy type. That's ok." Her voice lost the teasing edge, and she returned to her overly-concerned sappy tone. "We'll work with what you know. Tell me, have you ever even _kissed_ a girl?" There was a long pause of silence, and after a moment, Miko-Miko said wryly, "Hm, I think maybe he hung up on –"

"Yes," Hakkai finally replied. "I was married for a while."

"And what happened there, Sweetheart? Did she leave you for another guy?"

"...She died."

"Oh, you poor thing!" she cooed. "Alright, Honey. Here's what I think. Your wife? Tragic loss, _really_ tragic, but you've never been able to move past that. You're fixated on that, and that's affecting your ability to have relationships with anyone else. If you're all doom and gloom, people are going to be put off by you, not want to be around you, and like a self-fulfilling prophecy, eventually, you _will be_ alone. If you want to connect with these friends of yours, make them want to keep hanging around you after work is done, you need to step up and make the effort, ok? Bemoaning the fact that you have no friends is fine, but you need to go take a good, hard look in the mirror and see what it is that's keeping people from wanting to be around you, you know?"

"...So, you're saying it's my fault?" The voice was despondent. Obviously, he'd taken the words to heart. "I suppose I am pretty hard to be around."

In his own room, Sanzo crumpled the empty beer can that sat in front of him in his fist, his mouth curved down in a furious scowl. He didn't like the way this conversation was going, and he planned to put a stop to it.

"Well, not _entirely_ Hon. It does take two to make it work, but sounds like you've not done a lot to make anything happen from your end." She paused for a moment, and then in an overly perky voice, announced, "Alright, does anyone out there have any other words of advice for our failed friend here? Ah, you _are_ still awake out there, good! Hello, Darling! What do you have to say to our caller?"

"You're a complete moron."

There was a gasp of recognition from Hakkai, and Miko-Miko just purred lowly, and chuckled. "Mm, a harsh critic. I like a 'tell it like it is' man."

"I was talking about you, you hackneyed tart. I've been listening to you for a while now, and the crap you spout off about makes me physically ill. Hell, I've seen better advice written inside a fortune cookie. You take advantage of the desperate and clueless, mock them, and then leave them feeling like total shit about themselves. For what? For ratings? You disgust me." In his room, Sanzo was sticking his cigarettes in his pocket and looking for his key.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to watch your tone and language, or I will disconnect your call," Miko-Miko replied, her voice frosty and all traces of pretention gone from it.

Ignoring her, the blond continued. "And you're damned right I have something to say to your caller. For all the shit you've got going on in your life right now, for the pain in the ass that I know your friends are, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. You hear me? You've done nothing wrong. To me, it sounds like your friends should get their heads out of their asses and realize what they've got before they drive _you_ away, ne?" Sanzo could hear Miko-Miko screaming about something, but he just raised his voice to talk over her. "You're dealing with a couple of heartless bitches right now – the one you married, and the one exploiting your loss. I –" Violet eyes blinked when he heard the line go dead, and scowling, he shoved his phone in his pocket as he knocked on the door next to him. Not waiting for a response, he opened it and stepped inside.

He could see Hakkai sitting on the floor in front of his bed, one arm wrapped around his knees, his other hand holding the cell phone to his ear as Miko-Miko's voice rang out from the radio. 

The brunet turned a little when he saw Sanzo, his eyes wide. He seemed frozen, as if unsure of what to do with himself, the expression on his face much like the one the blond had seen when Chin Yisou had been toying with him.

"Hakkai," Sanzo said softly as he dropped to his knees in front of the other. He reached out with both hands, one turning off the radio, the other grasping the healer's cell phone and closing it. "You've done nothing wrong," he reiterated, as he tossed the device onto the bed and brought the youkai's eyes to meet his own. As he gazed into the brilliant green, he forced himself to drop some of his mental shields so that the other could see his sincerity. "You're not alone, Hakkai. No matter what happens or how bad things get. Do you hear me?"

After a few seconds, the brunet slowly nodded, and though his gaze remained slightly haunted, there was at least a spark of life in it. "I'm sorry, Sanzo," he remarked flatly. "I shouldn't have been so...so _stupid_."

The moment now passed, the blond snorted and sat back on his heels, his violet eyes once again shuttered. "I can't fault you for wanting answers, Hakkai," he said. "Though I swear to the gods, if I ever hear of you taking Gojyo's advice again, I will kill you." He smirked a little as he lit up a cigarette. "Come see me. I am a priest, after all."

Using his youkai reflexes, the healer moved, his arms going around Sanzo's neck as he rested his forehead against the monk's shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured simply as he held tight to the other.

Sanzo's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself with a lapful of Hakkai, and while he didn't return the embrace, he didn't shove the other off of him, either. He just sat quietly and let the brunet hug him. And as he gazed down at the dark head nestled against him, he smiled a little as he took a drag off his cigarette and felt his stomach flip. Pleasantly.


End file.
